Patent application number | Description | Published |
20150217033 | Foolproof Valve Assembly for a Breast Milk Collector - A breast pump system includes a duckbill-style check valve that intermittently releases breast milk from a charging chamber to a storage chamber. Various examples of rotational interlocks ensure that the valve is properly installed to avoid interference between the valve's discharge end and the inner surface of an outer shell that contains the valve. In some examples, the outer shell includes a concavity or other feature configured to accommodate multiple rotational positions of the valve. | 08-06-2015 |
20150217034 | Vacuum Break Backflow Preventer for Breast Pump Systems - A breast pump system includes a vacuum break backflow preventer for preventing breast milk from accidentally backflowing into a suction tube leading to a vacuum pump. The backflow preventer is a vacuum passageway with two spaced apart suction openings. The two openings convey air to cyclically pressurize and depressurize a small milk charging chamber. If milk accidentally covers one of the openings, air at the other opening minimizes the pressure differential that might otherwise draw the milk deep into the suction tube and toward the vacuum pump. For ease of cleaning and sanitizing, the system avoids or minimizes the use of baffles, permanently enclosed passageways, moving parts, and tight inside corners. Some passageways can be split open for access during cleaning. To make the breast milk collection device less protruding under a brassier, the vacuum passageway curves around the side of a nipple receptacle rather than in front of it. | 08-06-2015 |
20150217035 | Superelliptical Breast Funnel - A breast pump system includes a one-size-fits-all funnel for fittingly receiving the breast of a lactating woman. In some examples, the funnel has a superelliptical opening that provides a smooth, naturally occurring vent at the funnel's inlet. The vent places the breast-to-funnel circumferential seal closer to the narrow end of the funnel, rather than at the funnel's wider inlet. The seal being closer to the nipple ensures that the nipple remains centrally aligned within the system's nipple-receiving receptacle, regardless of the size and shape of the breast. | 08-06-2015 |
20150217036 | Milk Repellent Breast Pump - A breast pump system includes a flexible vinyl suction tube that connects a milk collection device to a vacuum pump. If a milk droplet accidentally backflows into the suction tube, a supplementary opening injects tiny volumes of air sequentially into the vacuum pump or into the suction tube near the pump. As the vacuum pump operates in a cyclical manner, the injected air returns the droplet in sequential steps back to the milk collection device. | 08-06-2015 |
20150217037 | Fluid Isolator for Breast Pump Systems - A breast pump system includes a fluid isolator that is particularly useful as an aftermarket product that can be readily installed between various vacuum pumps and milk collection devices. The fluid isolator includes a pliable, limp diaphragm that equalizes the pressure between a vacuum pump and a milk collection device while providing a barrier that prevents milk from accidentally backflowing from the milk collection device to the vacuum pump. In some examples, the fluid isolator includes one or more tiny supplementary openings for synchronizing the movement of the diaphragm with the cyclical action of the vacuum pump and/or for returning a misdirected milk droplet in a suction tube back to a charging chamber of the milk collection device. | 08-06-2015 |